From Stephanie Hemphill, author of the Printz Honor winner Your Own, Sylvia and the acclaimed novel Wicked Girls: A Novel of the Salem Witch Trials, comes the fascinating story of gothic novelist Mary Shelley, most famous for the classic Frankenstein.

An all-consuming love affair with famed poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, a family torn apart by scandal, a young author on the brink of greatness: Hideous Love is the story of the mastermind behind one of the most iconic figures in all of literature, a monster constructed out of dead bodies and brought to life by the tragic Dr. Frankenstein.

This luminous verse novel reveals how Mary Shelley became one of the most celebrated authors in history.

What happens when a teenage girl’s scandalous love affair inspires a masterpiece of gothic horror?

A Gothic Love Story: Follow teenage Mary Godwin as she risks everything for a scandalous, all-consuming affair with the brilliant and married poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.
The Birth of a Masterpiece: Discover the story behind the story—the stormy nights in Geneva with Lord Byron that sparked the creation of the legendary novel, Frankenstein.
A Lyrical Novel in Verse: Experience Mary’s passion, heartbreak, and genius through intimate and powerful free verse that captures the voice of a young woman claiming her place in history.
Rich Historical Detail: Step into the tumultuous world of 19th-century Europe, a society of radical thinkers, literary giants, and rigid rules that Mary and Shelley dared to defy.